"Down in the coal mine,
Underneath the ground,
Digging dusky diamonds
All the year around."
"I'd sing too if I was getting a dollar 'stead of a half, and had a chance to see daylight once in a while," grumbled Ben as his brother stopped to talk a bit.
"Hold on a while and don't get excited," counselled the elder. "I'm going to be promoted, and what's the matter with you moving up too?"
"Why? How?" inquired the discontented one eagerly.
"I'm going to be a regular miner; going to work with Bill Cooper, best miner out, father says."
"Then I'll drive Jerry and gather in the dollar," cried Ben. "But who'll tend door?"
For a minute the boy's face showed his disappointment; then he smiled again as the thought came of a way out of the difficulty. A friendly Indian camp was located across the river, and the boys, white and red, often came together for all sorts of sports.
"Why not get 'Coyote-on-a-hill' to work the door while I run the car?" said Ben exultingly. "He'd be scared to death at first, but I'll tell him about the fifty cents a day and that will brace his nerve."
And so it turned out. The Indian boy took Ben's place, while John turned over Jerry to his brother and cast in his fortunes with Bill Cooper.